Coupling for rods



' T. R. STANLEY. COUPLING FOR RODS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 20, 1919.

7 z E 5 e FIG. 3.

INVENTOR" T/ /OMAS F. STANLEY.

ATTORNEY.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS R. STANLEY, OF OIL CITY, PENNSYLVA NIA.

courmne non eons.

Specification. of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS R. STANLEY, citizen of the United States,residing at Oil City, in the county of Venango and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Couplings for Rods, of which the following is a specification; v

The object of this invention is to provide an easily-applied eflicientand inexpensive coupling for metallic rods.

Various forms of construction whereby I attain this object are shown inthe drawings, each ofthe figures of which is an elevation of my improvedcoupling, one end being in section to illustrate the construction moreclearly.

The construction as here illustrated is substantially as follows:

I form from a metallic bar of any suitable cross-section, a body 1, andprovide the same at both ends with a screw-thread, that may be either aninternal thread as shown in Figure 1, or an external thread as shown inFig. 2.

A member 3 is provided to cooperate with said threaded portion of saidbody 1, which may be'either in the form of a sleeve-nut, as

shown in Fig. 1, or a bushing as shown in Fig. 2; in either form of.construction said member 3 is provided with a rod-passage or socketthrough which the rod 4 to be coupled extends.

The end of said rod 4 is formed into a head 5, the outer face of whichis adapted to abut against the face 7 of said body.

'Said member 3, at the inner end of said rod-socket, is adapted to bearupon the under face of said head 5. I

It will, therefore, be readily understood that, when said rod is inposition to be cou-.

pled and the members-l and 3 are properly screwed together, a firm andrigid coupling is,formed, in which a relative longitudinal plalyoftherespective elements is prevented.

here is, at times, however, an abnormal and practlcally unavoidablecondition of -service to which a coupling of this class is subjectedwhensit is used as a sucker-rod coupling, which produces a severelongltudinal thrust upon the rod. This condition of service is likely tooccur where an oil well is pumped 'by means of what is termed a powerlocated at a considerable distance *from the well, and motion istransmitted from said power to a pumping jack at the well, one arm ofwhich is directly connected to the sucker-rod. Said transmission iseffected by means of a surface line, consisting of a wire cable ormetallic rods. The distance from the power to the pumping jack is inmany cases upward of a thousand feet and may considerably exceed thisfigure. These surface lines are in the open, and temperature has theusual effect upon them with reference to expansion and contraction. Whenthe pumping-jack is properly connected to the surface line, and to thesuckerrod, and a proper adjustment thereby made, the pump piston isthereby caused to reciprocate within suitable and desired limits itsstroke. When this occurs, at every stroke of the pump, eachcoupling-especially the head 5-is subjected to a thrust equal to theweight of the rods above the coupling. This may be several hundredpounds, as the diameter of these rods is usually seven sixteenths of aninch and the weight is .511 lbs. per

foot exclusive of the extra weight of the couplings. This thrust orbumping action tends toupset the head 5 and increase its diameter, thuscausing it to enlarge within the socket which it occupies, and to becomefirmly stuck therein, causing much difliculty in uncoupling the rods.

In order to avoid such difiiculty, Itaper said head toward its outer endso that it has approximately the form of a truncated cone, the base ofwhich is at the junctional point of the rod 4. The outer diameter ofsaid base is considerably smaller than the inside diameter of the socketwhich said head occupies when the coupling is connected, and because ofsaid shape and dimensions, said head does not become upset or expandedsuflicientlyto produce the difficulty above mentioned.

In Fig. 3 a slight modification is shown at 8, which consists inchamfering the entering wall of the screw-threaded portion 2 of thedevice. This feature has been found to be useful when my improvedcoupling is applied to the sucker-rods of oil wells, as it assists inpreventing any sand which may be through in the oil from settling, andtends to keep it movingin the upward direction, and out of the well.

Said feature 8, which is termed the sand cup is positioned at the top orupper end of the coupling when used with vertically-disposed sucker-rodsin a well. Said feature could be formed at some other point in the body1 than that shown in the drawing if desired, the main requirement being,

that it forms a horizontally-disposed, annu lar, upwardly-facing,cup-like groove, that will keep any sand in the well-tubing moving inthe upward direction when the pumping mechanism is in operation.

I claim the following:

1. A coupling for rods comprising-in combination, a body provided atboth endsthereof with a screw-thread, also a face for abutment of therod to be coupled; a rod provided at its end with a tapering head,tapered toward its free end and having oppositely-positi oned facesspaced longitudinally of said rod; and a member provided with ascrew-thread cooperating with said body screw-thread, an opening in saidmember into which said rod extends,'also a clamping face between whichand said body clamping face, the respective faces of said head arevclamped.

2. A coupling for rods comprising in combination, a body provided atboth ends-thereof with oppositely-disposed screw-threads, also a facefor abutment of a rod to be coupled; a rod provided at its end with ahead having theshape of a truncated cone, the larger diameter of whichis smaller than the diameter of said screw-threaded portion of saidbody, said head also having oppositelypositioned faces spacedlongitudinally of said rod; and a member provided with a screw-threadcooperating with said body screw-thread, an opening in said member whichsaid rod extends, also a clamping-face cooperating with said body faceclamping the respective faces of said rod-head therebetween.

3. A coupling for, rods, comprising in combination, an elongated bodyprovided at both ends thereof with a screw-thread, also a face for theabutment of the end of a rod to be coupled; a rod provided at its endswith a head having oppositely-positioned 4 I faces spaced longitudinallyof said rod; and

spective faces of said rod-head rigidly therebetween.

4. A coupling for rods comprlslng in combination, an elongated bodyprovided at both ends thereof with a screw-thread,

also-a face for abutment of a rod to be coupled; a rod provided at itsend with a head having the shape of a truncated cone, the

larger diameter of said head being smaller than said screw-threadedportion of said body, said head also having oppositely-positioned facesspaced longitudinally of the rod, and a member having a screw-threadedportion cooperating with said body screwthread, an opening in saidmember through which said rod extends, a clamping face on said memberbetween which and said bodyface, the respective faces of said head areclamped, and a sand-pocket carried by said couplin 5. A coupling forrods comprising an elongated body provided at both ends thereofwith ascrew-threaded portion also a face for abutment of the end of a rod tobe conpled; a rod provided with a head having the shape of a truncatedcone, the larger diameter of which is adjacent tothe rod and is of lessdiameter than said screw-threaded portion of said body, said head alsohaving oppositely-positioned faces spaced longitu-' dinally of said rod;and a member provided with a screw-threaded portion cooperating withthe. screw-threaded portion of said body, an opening in said memberthrough which said rod extends, also a clamping face formed thereoncooperating with said body face, clamping the respective faces of saidrod-head therebetween, and asand pocket formed in said coupling.-

In testimony whereof I aflixomy signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS R. STANLEY. Witnesses:

O. E. WOLCO'I'I. S. H. PERRY.

